Tire.



H. L WALBRIDGB.

TIRE.

- APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24, 1907.

Patented o@t.12,1909;

INVENTOR AMM:

v ATT WITNESS-Es:

ORNEY Y UNITEDY STATES' PATENT OFFICE,

HENRY QL.` WALERIDGE, or SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS," ASSIGNOR trofl CHANDLER COMPANY, or SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS;g A coRPoRAtrIogu or MASSACHUSETTS.

" TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented (-)pctpl 1909 `Application led August 24, 1907. Serial No. 389,929.

To alli/whom 'it mayconcewz.:

Be ,it known that LII-IENRY LORING. WAL- BRIDGE, a citizen of the United States, a resident of Springfield, in the county of Hampden, State of Massachusetts, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Tires, of which the following is a specification, ref-` erence being made to the drawingsforming a part hereof. 5 l A This invention pertains to tires of wheels 1 for vehicles, and relates to the` structure of the tire, and in particularthat portion which comes in conta-ct with the road surface.

While the practice of my invention affords many advantages, I will, amongothers, cite the object of preventing slnddlng or any undesired slipping of tires, and in addition the object miincreasedA durability of the tire surface Ain contact with the road, known as the tread. V While numerous attempts have been made to aflix to a tire so-called anti-skidding devices of metal, and also to incorporate in the structure of the tire metal members toprevent slipping or skidding, though theseattemptsj have invariably proven ineffective,

or, on the other hand if vin a .measure advantageous for one purpose they havel caused linjury to the tire or detracted from the par- Aso ticular objectsof a tire as cushioning 'or resiliencyor they have not been durable.

lVhile my invention may be variously practiced, I willdescribe .one embodiment ofl myivnvention with reference to hereto attached, in which- Figure I is a section in part perspective of a pneumatic'tire on a felly; Fig. II illusstrates the fabric which I use in the construction of myfoire{@FiguIIa Vis a piece ofthe fabrieken 'eiiflvar-gedscale; Fig.` IIb shows in perspectivesV plurality of strips of fabric on an enlarged scale; FigMIII is one manner of constru'ctin'g a portion which may be used in the building-up of my tire. i, 4, y

In the particular embodiment of my 'invention, as shown,1Ajis aAtire shoe; while a represents the-inner or inflatable tube the drawings Ain'the-t1re;, B 1is a metal rim, and b f a felly of a wheel to 'which the rim wlth' tire is attached'. In the outer portion of r the tire .are fabric members C incorpowhich the outer is constructed. .t 5,5 .I uti-l-ize fabricas in` Fig'. II cut..

frated with the rubber or Similar material of portion or tread of the tire which I preferably fold asindicated in Fig'. IIa, and which I lay around thetire as illusy Strated in Fig.. II, so that a plurality 'of strips or a continuous strip of narrow fabricpreferably in a number of turns, which fabricsubstantially presents its edge to the, tread. In 'FigfIIl havel shown the fabric C of a single piece; while in Fig; ID?, I have shown the fabric as composed of a: plurality of strips c. Between thelayersfof fabric I leave a substantial space M ,Which is filled with rubber or like niaterialand which may Vbe effected by previously coating the fabric with rubber, or, in other frictioning the fabric. of the fabric I likewise leave space filled with rubber. These interstices between the plurality of layers of fabric are each substantially greater than fabric, whereby I secure@asurfacelargely emerging or protruding therefrom",tV but sub- Stantially 'flush .with the surfatieoffthe rubmay be embodied as in-Fig. I in thetire'shoe proper, or the tire itself in the case of a single tube tire, so that it forms a unit. On the Yother hand I may, as in Fig. III, separately make the tread portion composed ofv rubber with the fabric set on edge'landfvulcanized into it, but with substant ,'lrubber parti tions between. the layersl off-fabric, Yand Vthis separately formed tread thenf be` "coin-v bined with the'tire. y

I have found that attempts heretofore to use protruding fabric in place of the rubber in a tire have resulted in the absorption of quality of the tire for its proper use. In'v haveffounfd that f he packingtogether into a (luces a tire with no resiliency whatsoever *and 'Subject torapidwvear and deterioration, as compared with my invention.

For the above and various other'reasons,I I have been led to the discovery'that I .can overcome objections and produce af'most effective tire by my mode of construction, which, in addition to the above description, includes severaldetailed features. I-prefer a fabric such as ramie properly treated, which on the bias or fashioned on the biasyand` the f thickness of the of rubber with a plurality 'off'fabric edges' solid lbody yof fa bric cementedfitogether pro- .A

"extends around the outer portion ofthe tire moist-ure, with its ruining eectupon the otherfruitless attempts heretofore made, I

rso i ber, preserving the flexibility 'o fltheftiije. This f construction of' fabricand rubber not having the qualities Vof a cotton `fiber as frequently embodied in fabrics, does not absorb moisture as used in my construction, and

this combined With the feature of thorough frictioning of the fabric and with an ample by rotting. rlhe ample amount of rubber interstices likewise prevents the rapid Wear of the protruding threads or particles of ,the g fabric, and While 'preferring a relatively loose Woven fabric, and When as preferred using it on the bias, I effect a very close and lasting union between the adjacent layers of rubber' on either side of a fabric layer, particularly near the outer portion of the fabric layers. This it will be seen is owing to the f curvature of the fabric spreading the threads i slightly more on the outer-'portion than the inner portion of the strip of fabric.

Vith the relative amount of rubber and fabric combined in my structure .l donot affeet theresiliency of the tread `of the tire to any objectionable extent, but on the contrary produce a structure which will not beinjured by the eXtreme iiexing incidentvto the compression of a pneumatic tire. Any slight hardenii'ig or stiifening of the tread, however, it Will be noted is in the portion of the tire superposed upon a yielding back-ground,V "namely, in the case of a pneumatic tire the pneumatic or inflated portion Yof the tire,

While if my tread is supported upon an ample rubber cushion of a solid tire, the plain rubber between my special trea-d construction and the felly is of such extent and pliability as to afford in that case,vas Well as in the pneumatic tire, all the resiliency desired and obtained in the ordinary construction of tire, While added tothe general quality that of great durability of the tread and the nonskidding or sllpping quality. The backing of yielding materialeither proper rubber or the pneumatic portion of an inliated tire, or otherwise, insures the resiliency or pliability of a tire, While conversely my construction of tread is such that when so used it is not subject to any deleteriousreifect by the excessive yielding and remains effective for all its ad- Vantageous purposes, irrespective of the yielding of the pneumatic or other base above Which it is superposed.

While having described my invention as y embodied in one specific form, it will be understood that various modifications and varieties of embodiment are possible, and my invention is not 4con-fined to the particular construction shown and described, but

What; .claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A tire'including in combination, a tread i and means for yieldingly supporting said l tread, said tread containing a plurality of continuous layers of fabric extending circumfercntially about said tire and protruding flush with the "oad contacting surface, said layers lying substantially normal to the 1 road contacting sui-face and being separated from each other by a layer of rubber.

and means for yieldingly supporting said i tread, said tread containing continuous g strips of fabric extending circumferentially about said tire to form layers lying substantially normal to the road contacting surface l and separated from each other by a layer of i rubber, said layers protruding liusll with the road contacting surface.

Atire including in combination, a tread, and means for yieldingly supporting said Q tread, said tread containing a plurality of continuous .layers of fabric united with the rubber and extending circumferentially about said ti-re and protruding flush with the road contacting surface, each layer being separated from its adjacent layer by a layer of rubber of greater thickness than .the layer of fabric, said layers of fabric being substantially normal to the road contacting surface, and the intervening layers of rubber lbeing united ivitlitlie body of the tire.

4t. A tire including in combination, a tread and means for yieldingly supporting said tread, said tread containing strips of fabric folded to form layers extending circumseparated from each other at the contacting surface by a layer of rubber united with the tire proper. n

5. ln a pneumatic tire, atread and pneumatic means for supporting the tread, said tread portion containing a united with the rubber of the tire, an edge of each of said layers protruding substan' tially flush with the road contacting surface and the edges of the layers being separated from each other by a layer of rubber united with the tire proper whereby a con-. tinuous roughened surface of alternate rubber and fabric side by side, is provided. (i. A tire having embedded therein la plurality of continuous flexible strips, the said f strips being folded longitudinally and medially with their edges presented upon the tread surface ofthe tire.

l HENRY L. VVALBRIDGE.

Witnesses:

WM. M. MUIR, JAMES A. HAwKINs.

2. A tire including in co1nhination',a tread.

the road contacting surface, said layers being yers of lfabric- 

